WATER CAT EYE by ReformA is six cat eye gel polishes of 10 ml each: sheer shades with a sharp, defined band of light.
Each of the six works in two ways. Worn on its own over a clear or nude base it is a sheer manicure with a moving line. Laid over a colour it does not cover that colour, it changes it: glass-like shine, depth and light moving across the nail.
The formula is light and adds no thickness, so the set stays thin even when the cat eye goes over a colour coat.
Shades in the collection
| Name |
SKU |
Tone and undertone |
Coverage |
| Clear Ice |
947148 |
sheer white, neutral |
sheer |
| Champagne |
947139 |
sheer champagne, beige |
sheer |
| Pure Pink |
947140 |
sheer soft pink, pink |
sheer |
| Dear Pink |
947141 |
sheer rich pink, pink |
sheer |
| Love Pink |
947142 |
sheer pink beige, beige |
sheer |
| Deep Pink |
947143 |
sheer cool pink violet, cool |
sheer |
How to pick a shade
-
To change a colour without tinting it. Clear Ice, the only neutral shade of the six.
-
For a warm result. Champagne goes towards gold, Love Pink towards rose. Both sit best on a beige or nude ground.
-
For pink that reads as pink. Dear Pink over a nude ground, Pure Pink when the ground should stay recognisable.
-
For the sharpest contrast. Deep Pink, the deepest and the only cool shade, over a pale ground.
All six come in 10 ml bottles with a brush. More shades that work through the plate are in the semi-transparent gel polish section, warm grounds in beige and nude gel polish, and the whole 10 ml colour line is here.
How to work with the collection
- Prepare the plate, apply a base coat and cure. If you want a colour underneath, apply and cure it now.
- Apply one coat of the cat eye shade and do not cure it.
- Hold the magnet 2 to 5 mm above the nail, steady, until the band of light appears.
- Cure the coat. Repeat the coat and the magnet if you want a stronger line.
- Seal with a top coat and cure.
Curing time: 60...120 sec in an LED lamp, 30...60 sec in a 48 W dual LED lamp. The time depends on the power of the lamp and on the diodes themselves, and has to be checked separately for each product.
Frequently asked questions
How close should the magnet be to the nail?
Close. Two to five millimetres is the working range, and beginners almost always sit too far above the nail. Bring the magnet down before you change anything else about the technique, and keep it off the wet surface.
How thick should a cat eye coat be?
The thickness of an ordinary colour coat, not a sheer pass. A coat with too few particles in it has nothing to pull into a line, and a coat that is too heavy undercures underneath while the pattern settles and softens on top.
Can I magnetise the effect after curing?
No. The lamp locks the particles where they are, permanently. Everything about the pattern is decided in the seconds before the coat goes in, which is why the magnet work and the cure happen back to back.
Should cat eye gel be finished with a gloss or matte top?
Gloss, unless you want the band gone. The whole effect is a reflection off particles that have been pulled into line, and a matte surface breaks that reflection up. Under a matte top the shade keeps its colour and loses the band, which is occasionally the point but is never the default.
How long does the coating hold?
On healthy nails a ReformA coating holds for up to 3 weeks in most cases. How long it holds depends on nail preparation, application technique, the condition of the nails, lifestyle and the load on the hands. Cat eye shades need the full cure time because of the particle load, and an undercured coat is the usual reason a set lifts early.
How is this collection different from Cat Eye Clear White?
Cat Eye Clear White belongs to the BLOSSOM collection and carries a glass wet look in a cool white. The six shades here carry a glitter shimmer and a defined band. Both are sheer and both work as toppers; the finish is what separates them, and Clear Ice is the shade they get confused with most often.
